Jurgen does the nasty...

It's easy to forget that before Coach Jürgen of Team USA, before Jürgen the Beetle-driving, Californian environmentalist, and before the emblematic role as Ambassador Klinsmann of an exuberant, youth-driven, German football in 2006, there was bad Jürgen Klinsmann - the diving scourge of Corinthian values everywhere...

On Wednesday night, with the goals and refereeing decisions from the just-concluded Brazil game still clearly rankling with the US coach, the present day Klinsmann offered a reminder of a persona that many thought had been retired almost two decades ago, by stating "We need to get an edge, more nastier (sic)" and suggesting his team were maybe "too naive" to "step" on the toes of opponents. He also pointed to the all-conquering Barcelona side's propensity to badger the referee when decisions go against them.

Cue outrage among the US sporting commentariat at the apparent suggestion that the US become a nation of floppers - with a series of editorials that in their rush to defend the spirit of American sport, often veered rather close to something unpleasant.

Even the more balanced responses tended to miss the context and bigger picture of Klinsmann's remarks, which was a reasonably pertinent, if badly expressed, assessment that the US needed to develop the sense of expectation that accompanies the best teams. At their best, going forward, the US has the ability to trouble any team they play, yet few of the teams they play seem to come into games against the Americans with the sense that they have already been half beaten by American self-belief. Klinsmann would like his side to believe they will win every time they take the field. But as Brian Phillips pointed out in his wry take on the Brazil and Scotland games for Grantland, "When was the last time you turned on a USMNT match and had any idea what to expect?"

In the semantic furore that followed the coach's comments, one of the criticisms levelled at Klinsmann was that he had fundamentally misunderstood the American sporting character - but that doesn't ring true. Whether he was speaking out of frustration or playing a longer motivational game on this occasion, Klinsmann has a history of developing a nuanced relationship to his adopted homes and an understanding of what interventions might be required, and when.

When Klinsmann arrived at Tottenham for the 1994-95 season, he did so amid huge suspicion from the English fans and press over his diving - much greater than the cultural resistance he has so far faced in the States. Writing in the Guardian on the striker's arrival, Andrew Anthony penned an article entitled, "Why I hate Jürgen Klinsmann", and his was a fairly typical position when Klinsmann first showed up in Osvaldo Ardiles' short-lived 5-man attack. Unlike Ardiles however, Klinsmann was to win the doubters round, starting by disarming them with a celebrated goal on his debut and an even more celebrated celebration (one that is still regularly imitated 20 years later...), as he dived full length on the turf in a parody of his own infamous worst trait. It was a self-deprecating move calculated to appeal to the British sense of irony, and it worked spectacularly well, yet was hardly atypical of a man who had also charmed Italy with his willingness to learn the language and engage with the locals and history of the club at Inter Milan. Two months after the first article, Anthony was back in the Guardian writing a follow up article entitled "Why I love Jürgen Klinsmann"...

It's doubtful if Klinsmann's most vocal US critics will be doing the same any time soon, but if his remarks ultimately lead to an increase in resolve from his team, nasty or not, it's equally doubtful he'll mind. GP

Herculez Gomez should be the U.S.'s starting striker

Just eight years ago, Herculez Gomez considered giving up on his professional soccer career altogether when he was cut by the Los Angeles Galaxy. Two years ago, his MLS career had come to an unceremonious end when he was low-balled by the then-Kansas City Wizards and he balked at their offer. Today, Gomez is the best, most consistently prolific and well-rounded pure striker in the U.S. player pool.

The serial Santos Laguna goal-scorer demonstrated against Brazil why he should be the U.S.'s incumbent starting central striker from here on out – a sentiment confirmed against Canada, when he got a second consecutive start. Although of modest stature, Gomez combines the traits of a target man and on face-to-goal striker. He has proved himself a strong finisher with the ball at his feet and in the air. He can hold up play and run onto long balls, take on defenders and get teammates involved. His toil matches that required of a lone central striker in a 4-3-3 system and his savvy allows him to maximize the sparse opportunities the U.S. will get in tough games. Much like he did against Brazil, when it took but a lone well-placed cross by Fabian Johnson for him to score, having beaten a world-class defender in Juan to the ball and heading in at the near post. LS

Michael Bradley: fewer questions now his father's gone

Not too many U.S. fans question Michael Bradley's place in the U.S. lineup anymore. With his father, Bob, dismissed and Michael playing better than ever, the charges of nepotism now ring hollow, as they probably always should have. Ever since the U.S.'s 3-2 win over Slovenia in November, Bradley's play has been simply unimpeachable. Bradley was dominant in a 1-0 win over Italy in February, transcendent in a 5-1 win over Scotland and equally eminent in the 4-1 loss to Brazil. He is no longer merely a midfield vacuum, gobbling up loose balls, patrolling unguarded land and connecting short lateral passes. Certainly still useful in all of those departments, a great many laser-guided long balls, through balls and cross-field passes now emanate from his boots too. Bradley, when on his game, has become capable of dictating the game on both sides of the ball.

Bradley is a mere 24 years old and has already logged two seasons in MLS, two seasons in the Netherlands, two and a half in the Bundesliga, a half season in the Premier league and a year in Italy. It shows in his increasingly sophisticated game. And with his prime presumably still well ahead of him, the point of debate should soon shift to whether Bradley isn't the most accomplished two-way midfielder the U.S. has ever produced. That, more than the role of his father in his career, is likely to be enduring question of Bradley's career. LS

The 4-4-2 doesn't work

Having deployed the 4-3-3 Jurgen Klinsmann long advocated to great effect against both Scotland and Brazil, moving the ball around with gusto and creating chances by the bushel, the U.S. went back to a 4-4-2 – or a 4-4-1-1, or whatever – against Canada.

This formation undermined the progress the U.S. has made. In the pre-Klinsmann dark ages, a 4-4-2 with two deep central midfielders perennially put the Yanks on the back foot, making them a counter-attacking team forced to absorb a great deal of pressure in hopes of being granted a chance or two to break away. In Klinsmann's 4-3-3, the U.S. can usurp much more possession, involve its full backs and free up two of three central midfielders to join the attack and orchestrate from the inside of the field. But by removing the Number 6, usually either Maurice Edu or Kyle Beckerman, a knock-on effect disturbed much of the team, negating the extra center forward it put on the field. Without a man to cover for them, central midfielders Jermaine Jones and Bradley were forced to hang back more, preventing them from crowding the opposing midfield in its own half and distributing. This, in turn, forced the deep striker, Clint Dempsey, to fall back and help out on defense, making him easy to mark out of the game. The advanced striker, Gomez, thus became isolated and the wingers, Jose Torres and Landon Donovan, were insufficiently involved and advanced, blocking the path of the wing backs to push forward.

By taking out the holding midfielder for a trequartista, in other words, Klinsmann made his side a much more defensive one than before. The effect was noticeable, as the U.S. mustered only the rare chance and had trouble commanding the midfield. LS

It's not that Portland hadn't sent out a strong side. Tuesday night had seen half the competing MLS teams fall at the first hurdle against lower league opposition - with cup specialist (and 2011 finalists) Chicago's defeat to part-timers Michigan Bucks only one of several upsets. With the common denominator amongst the Tuesday night losers tending to be the deployment of something less than their first team line-up, and with Portland evidently mindful of the prize of Champions League soccer for the cup winners (who need 'just' 5 wins to take the trophy), their side of starters for Wednesday, including the luckless Boyd, should have been too much for Cal FC. The fact that they weren't made for a nice story and a brief worldwide Twitter trend late on Wednesday night, but what was at least as interesting was the wider picture of the US domestic scene offered by these 3rd round results taking place in an international week.

One thing that became apparent from the test sample of 16 ties, each featuring an MLS side against lower league opposition, was the steep drop off of standards from MLS first teams to their reserve players. As this blog post points out (and thanks to regular Guardian commenter dididothat for the link), the five MLS teams whose starting 3rd round line ups had played the least MLS minutes this year, all lost their games - Cal FC's victory over Portland was actually an aberration, as the Timbers sent out the highest proportion of regular players of any MLS team in the round. Nonetheless, during a week when Klinsmann's holistic national team approach was under scrutiny, it was telling to watch one corner of the US game negotiate the effects of the salary cap constraints on their squads, particularly for teams who lost internationals for a FIFA week.

To their credit, whether mindful of the CCL route, or through pressure from fans, more MLS coaches have started to take the Open Cup seriously, but they can legitimately point to their hands being tied by USSF scheduling that often pits the games against league and international commitments - forcing them to either roll the dice with untried squad players, or compromise their MLS campaigns. Meanwhile, US soccer's administrative body seem unsure of how best to treat a trophy that is now under their jurisdiction, and which has a rich history, but which has not yet found its deserved place as a priority within the US game. This year's 3rd round restructuring was a good start, and addressed some of the accusations that the cup has been treated with, at best, benign neglect in the modern era. With Klinsmann attempting to raise the ceiling of achievement for the international team, it would be great to see his bosses showcase some of the historic roots of that ambition, by truly celebrating the Open Cup. GP